1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a device and to a method for processing and printing information.
2. Description of the Related Art
During the course of the progress of information technology, information is being made available in more and more different ways. What is probably the fastest development has been accomplished in the field of electronically stored information. Nonetheless, there continues to be a need to print out information. There is a need to get electronically stored information in a high-performance fashion and to supply the information in printed form to interested parties easily and quickly.
A specific field has been created for this purpose, which is referred to as “Print on Demand” (PoD). In this field, for example, services are offered with which books can be printed at specific print stations in response to an individual order. This method makes it possible that large editions of the books need not be printed and stored centrally and be delivered to the dealers from the central warehouse; rather, the dealer merely receives the information to be printed in the book in electronic form and prints out the information in book form with the dealer's print station. Since the dealer is usually located close to the final consumer, the dealer can offer the consumer an arbitrary book without keeping it in stock and can deliver it a short time later. For example, such a system is described under the title “Entwicklung neuer Medien-Konzepte für PoD-Dienstleister” in the periodical Deutscher Drucker No. 35/98 of 17 Sep. 1998. Such systems also make it possible for the informational content of the books or, respectively, for the corresponding data to be delivered to the print station via the Internet. For example, Xerox Corp. offers a corresponding service under the trademark “Xerox Book in Time”.
Compared to conventional publishing and book retailing, the advantages of such PoD systems are that the costs for transporting the books over long distances are avoided and that no costs are incurred for warehousing the books, since the books are printed just-in-time on demand, small editions can be economically published, and the number of books to be printed is independent of the size of the edition, so that an arbitrarily great number of books is printed given a corresponding demand. Moreover, this means faster delivery for the customer since the electronic communication of the respective book content via data networks can ensue in a few minutes. This is particularly true of rarely ordered books.
A software program is known under the trademark HP Web PRINTSMART, whereby information from different Internet web sites can be read out or stored and printed out as a single document with a continuous format. With this program, for example, a user can compile the user's daily paper, which the user fetches via the Internet and prints out on the user's printer. The special characteristic of this program is that web pages that are formatted for display at a picture screen are converted into a format suitable for the printer. This program merely reads information from web pages.
The information stored in the web page usually serves advertising purposes and can thus serve only conditionally as an information source for a specific topic.
There are numerous electronic data banks that can cover general topics are that are specialized for specific fields, particularly occupations. Such data banks are usually only available to limited user circles who have contracted with the vendors of these data banks to the effect that they are allowed to use the data banks in exchange for a corresponding payment.
Even though enormous quantities of information are electronically stored and accessible via data networks, only selected and extremely limited circles have access to such information sources. It is thus hardly possible to get an overview of the electronically stored information for a specific topic of interest for someone who does not have such access to these information sources or who wants to be informed in a field outside that person's specific field.
The German Patent document DE 196 51 788 A1 discloses a method for data determination and editing in information networks such as, for example, the Internet. A targeted, time-saving search for arbitrary information is supposed to be possible with this method. This method is characterized by “intelligent” search engines that, for example, eliminate redundant datasets, abort the search when the number of datasets exceeds a prescribed maximum, or a further search run is implemented when the number of identified relevant datasets is higher than this limit, whereby the user or the search program provides a further relevant search word and a second search run is started. In this method, the individual search passes are interactively implemented, as a result whereof the user respectively intervenes in the search.
The above-mentioned German Patent document DE 196 51 788 A1, further, discloses a training matrix with synonymous descriptors that enable a search for descriptors having the same content after an unsuccessful search. In this method, for example, the user is automatically assisted by automatic suggestions of further search terms (descriptors) in order to carry out an optimally precise search, whereby the given maximum limit of datasets should not be exceeded.
The publication “Das Patent Informationssystem PATIS”, by Dr. Volker Hartung and Dr. Klaus Ströβner, German Patent and Trademark Office, May 1994, discloses a search system for searching patents that comprises a data network, data terminals such as, for example, search stations, archive computers, and control computers, etc. Given this search system, input masks can be employed for inputting the desired search terms.
Formulation aids for locating search terms for the data bank search with which search terms can be input into corresponding input masks are described in training documents for the patent information system DEPATIS, particularly on pages 51 and 53.